Catching up: Texas teachers’ pay up 1.6 percent this year

Published: 22 January 2013 11:31 PM

Updated: 22 January 2013 11:31 PM

EDUCATION

Average teacher salaries in Texas are up slightly this year — about 1.6 percent — as school districts continue to cope with big funding cuts approved by the Legislature in 2011. The Texas Association of School Boards reported Monday that the average teacher is earning $49,139 this year. For teachers who received a pay raise, the average increase was 2.3 percent, a little more than last year’s 2 percent raise.

Slightly fewer than 20 percent of districts froze salaries in the current school year, an improvement over last year when nearly half froze salaries in response to the funding reductions. Total funds for schools were decreased by $5.4 billion in the current two-year budget cycle. While public school advocates are trying to get the money restored in the legislative session, Gov. Rick Perry and legislative leaders have indicated they should not get their hopes up.

Some teachers are doing better than others, according to the TASB salary survey. Nearly three-fourths of districts are now paying stipends to teachers in critical shortage areas, such as math and bilingual education.

Terence Stutz

tstutz@dallasnews.com

dallasnews.com/educationblog

DALLAS COUNTY

Commissioners settle Democrats’ lawsuit

Dallas County commissioners agreed Tuesday to settle for $120,000 a federal lawsuit the Texas Democratic Party filed over how electronic voting machines counted certain straight-party votes.

Robert Arnett, an attorney representing the county in the suit, said the vote will end the county’s appeal of a federal ruling that found officials violated federal law. Arnett said the $120,000 will go toward a compromised settlement amount for the Texas Democrats’ attorney fees.

Mike Cantrell, the only Republican on the Commissioners Court, cast the sole dissenting vote.

State Democrats claimed election officials failed to get clearance from the U.S. Justice Department for changes to how some straight-party votes were counted on electronic voting machines.

A three-judge panel of federal judges agreed with Democrats in 2009. The county received clearance from the Justice Department in 2010 and has since been appealing the 2009 ruling.

Democrats filed suit in 2008 after Democrat Bob Romano lost the Texas House District 105 race in Dallas County to Republican incumbent Linda Harper-Brown by 19 votes. County Judge Clay Jenkins, who presides over the Commissioners Court, represented Romano in a separate lawsuit over that close election. Jenkins was absent and did not vote on the settlement Tuesday. Jenkins did not participate in a previous closed-door discussion commissioners had about the Democrats’ lawsuit.

Brandon Formby

bformby@dallasnews.com

dallasnews.com/cityhallblog

FRISCO

With offenses stable, crime rate falls slightly

Frisco finished 2012 with a slightly lower crime rate than the previous year, thanks to the relatively stable number of major offenses and a growing population.

The total number of major offenses rose by two (that’s right, just two) at the same time that the population increased by more than 5,800. That puts the city’s crime rate at 24.57 crimes per 1,000 people last year compared with 25.71 crimes per 1,000 people in 2011.

The good news? Zero homicides in Frisco last year. That’s down from the two homicides in 2011. Other declines last year compared with 2011 came in the categories of assaults, down 6.54 percent; burglaries, down nearly 10 percent; and motor vehicle thefts, down 41 percent.

So what was the big uptick in crime last year? Motor vehicle burglaries. Police reported 684 motor vehicle burglaries last year, an increase of more than 25.9 percent from 2011.

Motor vehicle burglaries have long been a problem for the city. Frisco police have adopted and promoted the campaign that urges people to lock their cars, take their keys and hide their belongings. But too many people ignore this basic advice.

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